I agree....first, like everything else, you must practice, practice, practice...make lots of sandwiches and just think of it like drawing...but instead of moving your pencil (the needle)...you are moving the paper...(the quilt). I still draw lots of my patterns also..I don't draw the stippling or just a meander...I figure that once its done..it is what it is and it will look fine. I like to draw my designs on tracing types of paper, pin it to the quilt and stitch over that. It tears off really easily. Thats for something that I don't have a stencil for. Those I mark with the blue markers. Good luck! Just don't give up!